Tuesday, December 29, 2009

National buffoons' Mexican vacation

My New Year's resolution is for my family to get out more.

We've already made a good start. We spent the Christmas holiday in Mexico, partly because who wouldn't if they could -- but mainly because this was our first year without my parents, with whom we had almost always celebrated Christmas.

Puerto Vallarta is glorious. It was made even more so by reports that Edmonton had posted its lowest temperature ever, at minus 46. We Canadians get a whole lot of schadenfreude for our tropical vacation buck. Our travel ads should probably use it as a lure. "Your package includes complimentary continental breakfasts and bottomless delight in the abject misery of those you've left behind."

Honestly, you get to Mexico with its balmy air, its cacophony of birds, its clouds of bougainvillea and its blissed-out dolphins and have to wonder aloud, why did any European explorer ever forego the tropics in search of deadly northern climes? My 15-year-old son Bart, who is studying Canadian history, claimed explorers came here "for the beavers." Then he added bitterly, "I've never even seen a beaver."

And I've never eaten one. There you have it -- settling Canada was a huge mistake. I hereby proclaim that my family must try to rectify this catastrophic error yearly, from November through January.

Posted via web from Cancun Mexico News

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